Techmeme
February 14, 2021, 11:30 AM

Top News

Cade Metz / New York Times:
Examining the links between the Rationalist community, with Slate Star Codex blog as its epicenter, and influential leaders in tech, including OpenAI's founders  —  Slate Star Codex was a window into the psyche of many tech leaders building our collective future.  Then it disappeared.
Noah Smith / Noahpinion:
The NYT overstated the influence of both Slate Star Codex and the Rationalist community on Silicon Valley, and falsely portrayed the tech industry as right-wing  —  Stereotyping the tech industry as a bunch of secretive right-wingers isn't correct, and it isn't helpful.  —  11 hr ago
Rest of World:
Inside “PGM” Facebook groups, the largest of which has 160,000+ members, where Brazilians collect, share, and memorialize the accounts of the recently deceased  —  Long before the Covid-19 pandemic, Brazilian Facebook users were gathering to memorialize total strangers.
Wall Street Journal:
Sources shed light on the increasingly personal battle between Tim Cook and Mark Zuckerberg, who in private reportedly said “we need to inflict pain” on Apple  —  Animosity between CEOs Mark Zuckerberg and Tim Cook erupts over privacy and dueling visions of internet
Tom Simonite / Wired:
Microsoft's quantum computing ambitions suffer a setback after its researcher, who claimed to have found the Majorana particle, prepares to retract his findings  —  In a 2018 paper, researchers said they found evidence of an elusive theorized particle.  A closer look now suggests otherwise.
Angel Au-Yeung / Forbes:
Following Bumble's IPO, CEO and founder Whitney Wolfe Herd, who is 31, became the youngest female CEO ever to take a company public in the US  —  [Update 7 pm ET: Whitney Wolfe Herd ended the day Thursday with a net worth of $1.5 billion based on Bumble stock closing at $70.55.]
Stanford Internet Observatory:
After researchers raised data privacy concerns, Clubhouse says it is taking steps “to prevent Clubhouse clients from ever transmitting pings to Chinese servers”  —  The audio chat app “Clubhouse” went viral among Chinese-speaking audiences.  Stanford Internet Observatory examines …
Christine Hall / Crunchbase News:
Sharecare, a digital platform that helps users consolidate and manage their health information, announces plans to go public via a SPAC at a valuation of $3.9B  —  Digital health care company Sharecare announced its plans Friday to join the public markets through a merger …

Sponsor Posts

Airtable:
Deep analysis for deep questions  —  Introducing Superagent.  A new research product from Airtable: Subagents deeply interrogate your topic and turn it into boardroom-ready reports, slides, docs, or websites.
Clay:
Turn any GTM idea into reality  —  Clay helps GTM teams combine AI agents, enrichment, and intent data to move faster and turn insights into action.
Zoho:
Your next great hire is just a tap away  —  You're traveling for a recruitment conference and forgot your work laptop.  You still have to review a C-suite candidate's salary requirements, filter the best candidates …
IDrive:
Protecting your Cloud Applications Data  —  Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Featured Podcasts

Big Technology Podcast:
OpenAI Closes in on $100 Billion, OpenClaw Acquired, AI's Productivity Question — With Aaron Levie
The Big Technology Podcast takes you behind the scenes in the tech world featuring interviews with plugged-in insiders and outside agitators.
Subscribe to Big Technology Podcast.
Hard Fork:
The Pentagon vs. Anthropic + An A.I. Agent Slandered Me + Hot Mess Express
The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.
Subscribe to Hard Fork.
The Upstarts Podcast:
Loyal's Celine Halioua: From Defying Doubters To Pioneering Dog Longevity
Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.
Subscribe to The Upstarts Podcast.
Access:
Notion CEO Ivan Zhao on if AI is really killing software companies
A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.
Subscribe to Access.
Lenny's Podcast:
Head of Claude Code: What happens after coding is solved | Boris Cherny
Interviews with world-class product leaders and growth experts to uncover actionable advice to help you build, launch, and grow your own product.
Subscribe to Lenny's Podcast.
Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:
His Excellency Khaldoon Al Mubarak: Investing in an AI-Driven World
Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.
Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.
 

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 11:30 AM ET, February 14, 2021.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.

More News

Earlier Picks

Sam Shead / CNBC: